


and they called it (puppy love)

by onmyownlittleplanet



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Brady Sheary, Dogs, Fluff, Louie Sheary, M/M, Meet-Cute, My First Fanfic, New York Rangers, Pittsburgh Penguins, SO MUCH FLUFF, So Little Time, So Many Dogs, Stickhandling 101, and also so much floof
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-11
Updated: 2017-10-30
Packaged: 2018-12-13 23:15:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,739
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11770482
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/onmyownlittleplanet/pseuds/onmyownlittleplanet
Summary: Brady stared at him for a moment, before shaking his head quickly. “How did you know my name?”The guy shifted the dogs tucked under his arms, raising the smaller one slightly. “What do you mean, your name? I was calling for Brady.”Hearing his name, Brady-the-dog stopped trying to squirm out of the guy’s hold and looked up at him with wide eyes, small pieces of pastrami and rye falling to the ground from the sandwich still in his mouth.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [whiteblankpage](https://archiveofourown.org/users/whiteblankpage/gifts).



_Dog parks_ , Brady thought, looking around, _are truly one of mankind’s greatest inventions_.

Brady didn’t actually own a dog, since his apartment building didn’t allow them, so he took every chance he could to pet other people’s. The Tuesdays-at-noon group in the “Small Dogs” section of the dog park tended to be all regulars, which to Brady meant they were faster to come to him for pets and belly rubs.

He reached down with one hand to pet the wagging tail of a small Bichon sniffing at his ankles, his other hand carefully holding away his cooling pastrami on rye. Brady chuckled softly as the dog’s floofy white head tickled his calves where his mismatched socks ended.

The Bichon was a regular named Princess Cloud. Much to her owner’s dismay, she had acquired the nickname Princey from some of the human regulars at the park, and often didn’t notice at all when he called out her full name.

Brady continued to stroke Princey’s tail, shivering slightly when her cold, wet nose brushed against his skin. He moved his hand to scratch at her ears, when--

“BRADY!”

As Brady looked in the direction of his shouted name, he felt his sandwich get tugged out of his hand, which he had lowered in surprise. A short, muscular guy with glasses ran towards him, a small tan and white dog with pointed, waggling black ears clutched under one arm.

Brady straightened up. “Hey man, what was that?”

The guy ran past Brady and scooped up an even smaller tan and white dog with his other arm, this one easily mistakable for a teddy bear and clutching Brady’s half-eaten pastrami sandwich in his mouth.

“I’m so sorry about that”, the guy said to Brady, looking up at him through his thick, square-rimmed glasses. “I let him off his leash and he just bolted.”

Brady stared at him for a moment, before shaking his head quickly. “How did you know my name?”

The guy shifted the dogs tucked under his arms, raising the smaller one slightly. “What do you mean, your name? I was calling for Brady.” Hearing his name, Brady-the-dog stopped trying to squirm out of the guy’s hold and looked up at him with wide eyes, small pieces of pastrami and rye falling to the ground from the sandwich still in his mouth.

“Uh. My name is Brady, too”, said Brady.

“Oops? Sorry about that. And sorry about your sandwich, too. Brady’s being a bad boy”. The guy looked down and frowned at Brady-the-dog. “We’re only in the city for the summer, and the boys aren’t used to being cooped up in an apartment all the time. Can I buy you a new one?”

“Nah, it’s fine. That was only half of it, anyways, I’ve still got the other half in my bag.” Brady grinned down at him. “I’m totally down to forget it if you’ll let me pet those two little fellas.”

The guy glanced down at each of his dogs in turn, then looked back up at Brady. “Uh, sure, as long as you can catch them once I put them down. You know Brady, I guess, and this other guy is Louie. Oh, and I’m Conor.”

Conor crouched down to the ground, gently letting the dogs touch the grass before grabbing their collars. Brady knelt down next to him, reaching both hands out to hover just below Louie and Brady-the-dog’s noses. Louie nosed at his hand, while Brady-the-dog leaned down to drop the remains of the sandwich on the ground and start munching on it eagerly.

“Oh, hey. Congrats on Lord Stanley!”, said Brady, nodding towards Conor’s hat, which was emblazoned with a stylized ‘412’.

“Huh? What?” Conor glanced around quickly, then ducked his head down.

“Your hat? 412 is Pittsburgh, isn’t it? The Penguins just won the Stanley Cup.” Brady sat down on the grass, crossed his legs, and started scratching Louie under the chin.

“Oh, uh. Yeah. They did, didn’t they.” Conor stuttered, shifting in his crouch. He let himself fall back, sitting down and crossing his legs. Brady-the-dog, who had been licking his chops after finishing the sandwich, took advantage of Conor’s loosened grip to wriggle his way out of his collar and hop into Brady’s lap, standing on his hind legs and putting his front paws on Brady’s chest. Brady immediately started rubbing the dog’s soft, fluffy back and scratching behind a folded ear.

“Brady!” Conor exclaimed.

“What? He’s fluffy and I like cuddles!”

“No, I meant the- oh, never mind”, Conor sighed, moving Louie into his lap. Conor looked up from Louie at Brady. His eyes narrowed. “Wait. You look strangely familiar. Have we met before or something? Where are you from, originally?”

“I’m from Minnesota. You don’t sound like you’re from anywhere near me.” Brady grinned at the tiny furrow in Conor’s brow. “But I’d pretend to be from anywhere if it would get me your number.”

Conor flushed, looking back down at Louie, who had curled up in a ball on his lap, then glancing up at Brady over the top of his glasses frames. “I’m, uh, from Boston. I don’t know though, you look really familiar, I’m not sure why. I-I would totally give you my number, though, once my hands aren’t full of dog.”

“I mean- “, Brady paused. “... I’ve been told I look kind of like Prince Eric from Ariel? You know, the cartoon? Maybe you’re just getting that.”

“Maybe? I’m not sure, I haven’t seen that movie in years. I could ch- no, no!” Conor yelped as Brady-the-dog turned in Brady’s lap and moved to leap off. Brady grabbed the dog around his tiny, downy tummy and pulled him back into his lap.

“Hey Brady, let’s get you all collared up”, Conor said, picking up the dog collar he had dropped at his side in a patch of grass.

“I mean, I’m more of a bracelet kind of guy, but, um, why not.”

Conor stared at Brady. “Um. What?”

“What?” Brady shot back, cocking his head to the side as if he were one of the dogs.

“Uh.”

“...oh. Kinky.”

“Brady!” Conor flushed.

“What? I wasn’t even thinking of that at first, I just, it was my name, and you’re really cute, and I was just thinking…”

“No, no, not in front of my kids! I mean, you too, I mean, wait, hang on”, Conor’s sentence derailed as Princey flounced up next to his folded legs and began pushing at them for scraps of pastrami.

The sight of Princey hunting for his sandwich reminded Brady of his hunger. He cuddled Brady-the-dog closer to avoid thinking about it, focusing on the soft fur under his fingers and the tiny doggie kisses being peppered across his left cheek. He laughed lightly as the dog’s ear tickled his nose.

“Hey, did you just giggle?’

“There is nothing wrong with giggling. Especially not at cute things, like small fluffy dogs who cuddle me. Or, ah, like their owner. I’m just saying.” Brady glared at Conor in mock anger. “Is that a problem?”

“Uh, definitely not. I thought it was pretty cute.” Conor glanced down at Louie and scratched behind his ear. “Not as cute as my boys, though. But nothing is as cute as my boys and I’m not sorry about it.”

“You shouldn’t be, they’re ador- oh, no.” Brady cut off as his phone alarm started ringing from his back pocket. “That’s my lunch break, I need to get back to the gym.”

“Oh, do you work at a gym?” Conor looked up and down at Brady’s torso, or at least what wasn’t completely covered by Brady’s fluffy little body. “I mean, you do look pretty fit… “, he trailed off.

“Sort of? I mean, I need to spend a lot of time there for work.” Brady grimaced. “I really do need to get back, though. Are you going to bring the boys back here at lunchtime again sometime? I still need to get your number.” He gently lifted Brady-the-dog off of his lap, and reluctantly placed him on Conor’s knee before standing up and dusting off his basketball shorts.

“Yeah, I mean, I want to get the boys out of the apartment as much as I can, so lunchtimes it is.” Conor picked up the dog collar at his side again as another alarm started blaring from Brady’s phone.

“I really gotta go now, I’m so sorry. You’re just really cute and I still need your number and I need to see you again, okay?” Brady said, kicking himself internally as he walked backwards to the dog park gate. “I’ll see you again?”

“I’ll see you!” Conor held up Brady-the-dog’s paw to wave as Brady opened the gate. “Bye, Human Brady! See you soon!”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Conor likes his dogs and cute boys and has a chat with a friend.

“Is it weird that this is the fourth time I’m watching  _ The Little Mermaid _ this week?”

_ “Is it weird that this is like the fifteenth time you’ve called me to talk about the Prince Eric lookalike you met at the dog park?” _

“Whoa, Muzz, there’s no way it’s been fifteen times. It’s been like five. And the boys liked him too, it’s not just me!”

“ _ So go back to the dog park and find him instead of pining on your couch and calling me again. _ ”

“I can’t.”

“ _ Why not?” _

“Brady is asleep on my lap.”

“ _ So is mine and he’s like ten times the size of both of your dogs put together.” _

“Yeah, but I’ve got a pair of tiny terrors and Beckham’s the sweetest thing.” Conor pressed the phone between his ear and his shoulder so that he could start petting Brady with both hands.

“ _ Fun fact: Not only is Beckham taller than you, but he’s also almost as tall as me now.”  _ Matt sounded way too proud for someone whose dog was virtually interchangeable with a friendly bear. “ _ Not that it’s difficult to be taller than you. Are you even taller than my goalposts when you’re not wearing skates?” _

“Ha fucking ha, Matt. I’m a whole twenty inches taller than your goalposts, and at least I can fit through a doorway like a normal human being and don't turn into the Hunchback of Notre Dame every time.”

“ _ Whoa there, are we branching out into other Disney movies now?” _

“Screw you, Brady’s the one- the human Brady, the cute guy from the-”

“ _ The cute guy from the dog park who looks like a Disney prince. He told you people tell him he looks like Prince Eric. Yes, I know. You’ve only told me like eight times already.” _ Conor could practically hear Matt rolling his eyes through the phone.

“Shut up. It was like, twice. You think that’s bad, try going over plays with Sid.”

“ _ See, that’s why I’m a goalie. I don’t need to deal with shit like that. _ ”

“Pretty sure you became a goalie because you’re a shitty skater.”

“ _ Fuck you, it’s just easier when you’re closer to the ice.” _

“Wow, going back to the short jokes? No creativity.”

“ _ More creative than watching The Little Mermaid for the fourth time.” _

“Hey, even the boys love it. Louie stares at the screen every time Prince Eric is onscreen. It’s a sign, I’m telling you.”

Louie, hearing his name, hopped up on the couch and started pushing his nose under Conor’s left hand where it lay on Brady’s tail. Conor moved his hand to Louie’s back and tried to stroke him as the small dog wriggled his way closer.

“ _ Signs and portents. Yet another reason you’re Sid’s kid.” _

“He’s literally five years older than me. And I don’t- Louie, what are you doing? What’s your nose- oh, shit, oh god, nope nope nope. I can’t. Ugh.”

“ _ Oh god, what did Louie do?” _

“These are the sweatpants I was wearing when I met Brady- like, human B-”

“ _ Dude, I got it. Disney Prince Dude. So what? You were on a walkie, sweatpants are like whatever.” _

“Yeah, but these sweatpants have a giant fuckin’ hole right near my ass.”

Matt snorted. “ _ There is zero doubt in my mind that you are hardcore exaggerating. There is probably a teeny tiny hole in the side seam.” _

Louie poked his nose into the hole in question, which was, in fact, a small hole in the side seam. Conor shivered at the touch of wet doggie nose on his thigh.

“Shut up.”

“ _ You called me.” _

“... why do you always have to be right?”

“ _ It’s a goalie thing. _ ”

“That’s your excuse for everything.”

“ _ It’s a completely valid excuse. I stand around and try to stop guys like- whoa, Beckham, mmph-” _ Matt’s sentence devolved into incoherent mumbling, followed by some soft huffing noises.

“I was gonna be pedantic here because you’ve never had to stop a guy like David Beckham, but I’m pretty sure Beckham just sat on you.” Conor grinned and patted Louie and Brady’s tiny bodies in turn. “My boys are sitting on me and we’re having a lovely time.”

_ “...mhmmfphmf.” _

“What was that? Brady, Louie, did you guys just understand what Uncle Matt said?” Conor booped Brady on the nose, eliciting a small whine. “Such good boys. Tell Cousin Beckham he’s doing a good job right now.”

Slightly crackled huffing and spitting noises, came through Conor’s phone as it slipped out from between his neck and shoulder before Conor moved his hand from Louie’s back to catch it before returning it to his shoulder and continuing Louie’s back rub. 

_ “... ugh. Beckham’s a good boy, he’s just a little enthusiastic about hugs.” _

“Dog hugs are great. Right, Brady?” Brady pushed his nose further into Conor’s leg and huffed at the sound of his name. “Hey, you know who looked like he would give great hugs?”

“ _ Oh my god, Disney Prince Dude. You need to either find this guy or get the fuck over him, this is getting ridiculous.” _

“I know, I know, I’m  _ trying. _ But he saw me in these sweatpants with the  _ giant hole in the ass _ , like what if he doesn’t want to actually see me again? What if he noticed and I didn’t and what am I talking about, he definitely noticed! And Brady, I mean human Brady-”

“ _ I know, Shears.” _

“-anyways, he had a  _ great _ ass and I got so distracted watching him walk away I didn’t even think to go after him? Why do I do these things?” Conor leaned his head onto the back of the couch in a huff, bouncing slightly and making Louie and Brady sleepily turn to glare at him for interrupting their pettings. “And you should have seen it, Matt, he had some serious bubble butt going on, and I’ve been in a locker room with hockey players for basically my entire life, and now I share one with Sid, but this one was just  _ seriously  _ pretty.”

_ “You just gotta keep going back and trying to find him. Then you can get his number and touch his butt and raise your two beautiful tiny dog children together.” _

“But he said he would come back and he  _ hasn’t! _ Should I keep just going back whenever? I’m in the gym most of the time, but lunchtime walkies need to still happen. I don’t want my boys to get bored while I pine over some pretty dude who saw my ass through a hole in my pants and then never shows again!”

“ _ They’re dogs. They’re never gonna get bored of you taking them to the dog park. But if you’re that worried about it, try going for a few more days and then you have to either stick with it or give up on him and stop pining. Go ahead and- oh my god, Beckham, watch your tail-  watch the damn movie eight more times, but you gotta stop being indecisive about it.” _

“Beckham stepped on you, didn’t he?”

“ _ Don’t try to change the subject. Make up your mind.” _

“I’m TRYING. Ugh, fine, how about I go for another week, and if he doesn’t show and the boys don’t make any particularly good new friends, I’ll stop.”

_ “If by particularly good you mean cute or petable, you’re sending me pictures. And yeah, that sounds good. But you need to give the fuck up on this dude if you don’t find him by then.” _

“You know what, it’s not up to me. Hey-” Conor snuck his hands under Louie and Brady’s necks to gently cup their heads and turn them to look at him. “Do you boys want to keep going to the dog park for a bit? Do you want to find the nice man with the pastrami sandwich?”

At the word “pastrami”, both dogs sat up, and Brady began eagerly licking Conor’s hand as Louie panted.

“ _ Judging by the happy dog noises, I’m gonna take that as a yes.” _

“Yeah. It’s a plan, then.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Matt Murray has a really cute and really large Newfie named Beckham (https://www.instagram.com/beckhamthenewf/) who's still a puppy and growing.
> 
> This was supposed to be longer and have two conversations, but the boys got distracted and it's just the first one.
> 
> Still unbetaed, still my first work, and I'm still at ryannuggethopkins on tumblr! Feel free to let me know what you think about my work or yell about dogs and hockey!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Brady pines and Mika is a Good Bro with very cute dogs

_ Knock, knock. Knocknocknocknocknock! _

_ Ruff-ruff! Grrrrraar! Ruff-ruff-ruff! _

Nala’s barking made Mika shoot out of his armchair faster than the knock. He scooped the little Pomeranian up under his right arm and opened his front door with his other hand to a forlorn-looking Brady, who shuffled past him without so much as a “hi”. He kept going until his knees hit the arm of Mika’s squashy leather couch and flopped forward, landing on the couch with a  _ whump _ .

“Hi Mika, nice to see you, how are you doing?” Mika said jokingly as he closed the door and locked it. Nala’s furry ears tickled his cheek. “I’m doing well, thanks, how are you? Oh, I hope you don’t mind me taking over your entire couch instead of telling you why I’ve been moping all week. I’ll just-”

“Mm not moping”, Brady mumbled from where his face was pressed into the couch cushions. “I met a cute boy and now I can’t find him.”

“How do you just lose a person? Is he ghosting you or something?”

“No.”

“So why don’t you just text him or something?”

Brady burrowed his face even more deeply into the couch cushion. “MMMHMHPH!” 

“Sorry, I don’t speak Couch. Move your face or pine more quietly.”

Brady turned his head to the side to look at Mika. “I’ve been pining quietly for a  _ week _ while I let a really cute guy with really cute dogs slip right through my fingers.”

Mika walked across the room and sat on the couch armrest that wasn’t covered by Brady’s legs and patted Brady on the head. “So, back to my other question. Why don’t you just text him?”

Brady raised his head up and looked at Mika. “Because I’m an  _ idiot _ and I didn’t get his number! And he just looked so cute covered in his little fluffy dogs that I wasn’t even thinking about it! And then with my training schedule I haven’t been able to get back to the dog park at the same time, so I haven’t seen him again!”

Brady’s frantic voice made Argo stir from his napping spot on the windowsill. He hopped down, and came pitter-pattering towards the couch, nails tapping against the wooden floor. He stood and put his little paws on the edge of the couch, nose inches away from Brady’s in a silent question.

Mika wrinkled his nose in confusion and looked down at Brady as Nala wiggled in his arms. “Firstly, I’m gonna need you to explain what the hell you’re talking about. Secondly, anyone looks cute covered in little fluffy dogs, but you won’t be able to pet mine properly unless you sit up.”

Brady groaned, then rolled onto his side and swung his legs down before moving to sit up on the couch. He reached down and pulled Argo into his lap as Mika slid off the armrest onto a couch cushion and turned sideways to face Brady, letting Nala hop out of his arms and jump up onto the back of the couch between them. Mika stroked Nala’s back as his nose poked against Brady’s ear.

“So you know how I go to the dog park during my lunch break when I’m training?” Brady hugged Argo as he turned his head to lick Brady’s face. “Don’t worry, Args, I’m not gonna leave you for any of those dogs!”

“Sound like you’d pretty happily leave us both for some random cute guy with cute dogs. Didn’t anyone ever teach you about Stranger Danger?”

Brady moved one hand from where it was patting Argo’s neck to facewash Mika. “I know Stranger Danger, dude. I only started talking to him because one of his dogs is named Brady, and I thought he was calling out to me.”

Mika leaned forwards and raked a hand through his hair, mussing up the carefully gelled comb lines. “Did he recognize you? Because I don’t really know how this goes- if you want to date cute boys you meet in dog parks, you’ve got to be careful about it before you end up on Deadspin. Maybe talk to Zuccs about it, since he does the You Can Play stuff for us? Or your agent and Media Relations, if you’re more concerned about keeping it quiet?”

Brady batted his head around as the fluffy Pomeranian in his arms pushed his face at Brady’s nose. “No, he didn’t seem to know who I was, but he did say I looked familiar? So I went with the Prince Eric line again. He’s from Boston, anyways, but he was wearing a Pittsburgh hat, and he seemed confused when I congratulated him on the Stanley Cup, so I’m not sure exactly what his deal is. But he didn’t know me, and nobody else at the dog park has said anything to me yet. Unless you count that one really old lady with the miniature Schnauzer who tries to grab my ass every time we’re there at the same time- dude, stop laughing, she pinches  _ hard _ \- but I don’t think she actually recognizes me either.”

Mika’s poor attempt at stifling his laughter shook his entire body, and bothered Nala enough to send him climbing from the back of the couch onto Brady’s shoulders, and attempt to scramble up on top of his head.

“Whoa, Nala, there’s no way you’re going to fit on top of my head- Mika, can you  _ not _ \- watch your tai- ah-CHOO!” The force of Brady’s sneeze from Nala’s tail waving in front of his nose sent the small dog on his head flying backwards, and Mika just barely managed to hold his giggles in long enough to grab Nala out of the air before his tiny body landed.

“You okay, little man? Brady’s big head didn’t hurt you?” Mika smothered Nala’s head with kisses as he cooed in his ears. “Don’t worry now, Pappa’s got you.”

“You’re the one who spooked her onto my head in the first place, and I thought you wanted to hear about Conor.” Brady grumbled.

“Okay, so his name is Conor and you thought he was calling out to you. What next?” Mika settled back into the couch, Nala curled up in his lap.

“His Brady, the dog Brady, stole half my sandwich, and I said it was fine as long as I got to pet the dogs, and they were just  _ so cute and fluffy _ you should have seen it, they’re amazing.” Brady leaned his head back with a dopey smile and a sigh, before shooting back upright and starting up again rapidly. “And Conor was really cute and a little bit flustered and I really wanted his number, but he was covered in his cute fluffy dogs and he said he’d give it to me? But then I had to leave because I was running late to get back, and we both said we’d be back. But he seemed like he really meant it, like he was really earnest about it? And now it’s been a week and I haven’t been able to get back at the same time and he probably hates me and I really want to see him again but I just don’t  _ knowwww! _ ”

Brady took a deep breath before twisting towards Mika and cocking his head to the side while looking at him with big, sad eyes. “Help me?”

“Well”, Mika started before pausing for a moment. “So you’re sure he didn’t want to get rid of you.”

“I mean, I’m pretty sure? He was really sweet and cute and he was definitely flirting back at me? So I mean yes, but like-”

“Okay, so we’re going to assume that’s a yes for right now.” Mika lifted Nala up until his head was next to Mika’s neck, and propped his head up on top of Nala’s fluffy one, considering his next words as he glanced towards the ceiling for a moment. “Are you going to get back to the dog park during the right time at some point over the next few days?”

Brady shook his head sadly, his eyes getting even bigger. He picked up Argo’s head where it lay on his chest and shook it gently, too.

“Then why don’t I go and try to find him? That way I can scope out his interest for you, and maybe give him your number and let him know that you’re sorry you haven’t been able to get back at the right time. You can text me your schedule, and maybe there’s a time you guys can both be there at the same time?”

Brady’s eyes got a little more hopeful and less like Argo’s when he really wanted people food from the dinner table. “...okay. He’s really sweet, though, you’re not allowed to try to steal him away from me.”

Mika snorted. “Dude, I am happily taken, he’s all yours. But you’re gonna have to tell me what he looks like if you want me to find him.”

Brady dimpled, crinkling his eyes. “He’s pretty short- like, Zuccs’ height, maybe? And he’s pretty small but it’s also pretty clear he’s mostly muscle, and he’s got brown hair and a little bit of stubble and gray eyes and they get really big when he smiles. Oh, and squarish glasses with thick black rims.”

Mika moved the words around in his mouth for a moment, contemplating. “... huh. Really short, and you said he’s from Boston but he was wearing a Pittsburgh hat?”

“Yeah? And his dogs, oh my god…”, Brady’s dopey smile returned. “Their names are Brady and Louie, and they’re both small and white and tan but they’re different breeds, I’m not sure what? But Louie has some black fur in his ears and looks a little foxy, and Brady looks like he’s got some Maltese in him and he’s a little rascal, but they’re both really sweet.”

“...huh. That’s… interesting.”

“What do you mean?”

Mika looked thoughtful, turning his head slightly to the side and rubbing his chin on Nala’s head. “Oh, it’s probably nothing. I just feel like that sounds a little familiar, for some reason.”

“I mean, he did look a little familiar, but you go to that dog park sometimes, too, right? We’ve probably just both seen him before. Right, Argo?” Brady looked down at Argo and smiled.

Argo poked his nose up at Brady for a moment, then turned back down to curl in a ball on his lap.

“... sure. That would make sense, I guess.” Mika looked like he wanted to say something else, but didn’t. He scratched Nala under his chin, and the Pomeranian ducked out from under Mika’s head to roll on his back, exposing his fluffy little belly in a request for tummy rubs. Mika obliged quickly, running his hands through the soft fur there.

“...oh...kay…?” Brady furrowed his brow. “When can you go meet him? Last time we met at a quarter past noon.”

“I can do that tomorrow, I think, but... I may have to make a call first. I’ll be there around then, though. Does that work?”

“Yeah, that works. Let me know how it goes? And give him my number if you can, okay? Don’t try to scare him off or anything.”

“... no promises. But I’m gonna go out there and do my best to get you a man. But seriously you need to figure out what you want this to be and how you’re going to go about protecting yourself. I don’t know this guy, and I care about you. You’ve gotta be safe and careful, and if anything happens, you need to stay in control of the narrative. We cool?”

“Yeah, we’re cool.” Brady paused for a moment before continuing on, rubbing lightly around Argo’s collar. “Look, he was definitely flirting with me, but I don’t even know if he was really interested. Maybe it’ll just be making a new friend with some cute dogs, I mean, he’s only around for the summer? I don’t know. But I really liked him, and I want to try to give it a shot. You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take, eh?”

“You’re not Canadian, please don’t say eh. But yeah. I’ll line you up with a nice assist.”

“Go back to making music, dude.”

“Wow, fuck you.”

“Love you, man. Thanks a million.”

“Love you too, bro.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mika Zibanejad has two Pomeranians named Nala and Argo, and sometimes he posts pictures of them on his Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/zibanejad93/). Also he makes awesome music.
> 
> Thanks to Julia for editing this chapter!
> 
> Once again, feel free to let me know if you have any feedback!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mika has good instincts and Conor does a lot of blushing

_ There’s no reason I would change any of it anyways, it calls me back to you…. _

Mika hummed along to his latest mix playing in his head as Argo and Nala scampered ahead of him, sniffing every which way and tugging on their leashes.

“Whoa there, boys, there’s no need to drag me all the way to the dog park”, said Mika, grinning at the two eager little dogs. “Slow  _ down _ , I don’t want to end up injured during the offseason.”

Argo and Nala ignored him, of course, and continued happily sniffing around until they reached the gate to the dog park. As Mika reached towards the latch, they barked happily and poked their noses towards the gap between the gate and the fence, charging through merrily the moment the gate opened, pulling Mika along with them.

“Slow down, guys, I gotta let you off of your leashes!”

At the word “leashes”, Argo and Nala turned around and looked up at Mika hopefully. Nala hopped his front legs up so that his front paws rested on Mika’s knee, holding him upright.

Mika leaned down and scratched Nala on the top of his head before batting him off his knee gently, and kneeling down.

“Are you both going to be good boys for me? You gonna play nice with all the other dogs?”, Mika asked the dogs, grinning as he unclipped the leashes from their collars. He felt a set of little paws skitter over his calves, accompanied by happy barks, and stood up, dusting his knees off.

Looking up, Mika noticed a short, muscular man with brown hair standing with his back to Mika, trying to grab a little white and tan dog running around his legs, a dog collar in one hand, and a second white and tan dog hopping around a few feet away.

“Hey, hey, whoa! Get back here, you need to keep your collar on!” Two older women holding giant brown handbags and standing off to the side chuckled as the man managed to snatch up the dog, making Mika think the dog slipping out was a fairly regular occurrence.

“Hey, are you Conor?”, Mika asked as he approached the man. “Brady asked me to-” The man turned. “Oh, shit, I was  _ right! _ ”

“What the  _ fuck? _ Zibanejad, right?” Conor Sheary looked much smaller and even less intimidating off the ice and not flanking Sidney Crosby, and much younger and wide-eyed when surprised by a forward from a divisional rival, the thick glassed sliding down his nose amplifying his shock further.

“Yep! Sheary, right? Brady sent me.”

Conor stood stock still, staring at Mika in a strange contrast with the small dog he clutched under his left arm, wriggling furiously and still not wearing a collar.

“WAIT.”

Mika waited.

“Hold the  _ fuck _ up. Brady the Disney guy.” Conor’s face remained in its wide-eyed, shocked expression, his inflection reminding Mika of Jimmy when hearing a particularly wild piece of league gossip.

“Yeah, he really does look like one. I mean, sure, it’s a line, but also- are you okay, dude?”

“Brady.” Even the squirmy dog under Conor’s arm was looking at his still-shocked expression worryingly now.

“Yeah, dude. Hey, which one of these little guys is also Brady?” Mika reached down and picked up and snuggled the second little white and tan dog, who had come to sit at Conor’s feet. “Hey there, little guy!”

“Brady  _ SKJEI _ ?”

“Yeah, dude.” Mika scratched the dog he was holding under his chin as Nala rubbed up against his right calf, jealous of the affection the smaller dog was getting. “Is it the really tiny one you’re holding? Because that would be  _ great. _ ”

“Oh my god.” Conor finally turned from staring at Mika to look off into the distance, bewildered. A grey poodle ran between the two men, brushing up against Conor’s legs.

“To be fair, he didn’t recognize you, either.” Two more dogs ran between them, one landing on Mika’s shoe twice. “Hey, you wanna move out of the way? I think we’re in a bad spot in the doggie playground.”

“I’m an  _ idiot. _ ” Argo, who had come to sit by Mika’s left calf, barked at the word “idiot”, or possibly the labrador puppy who ran past Conor at the same time. “Yeah, we should probably get out of the way.”

Mika nudged Nala and Argo off his legs and stroked the little dog in his arms as he followed Conor to a bench off to the side of the dog park. Mika sat down next to him as Nala and Argo ran off and Conor tried to put the collar back on the dog now seated in his lap.

Conor’s posture relaxed as he buckled the collar back into place. “Actually, it’s probably not surprising that he didn’t recognize me, considering I’m five-eight and nerdy looking.” He patted the dog, who jumped off his lap and right into the heart of the herd of dogs scampering around.

“Well, Brady seemed to think you were pretty cute,” Mika said, cocking his head to the side and looking down at the dog cuddled to his chest, who was starting to get antsy.

“Oh my  _ god _ .” Conor buried his face in his hands.

“Also your dogs.” Mika scratched the head of the dog in his arms before lowering him to the ground and letting go, watching as he bounded off.

“I mean,  _ fuck yeah _ my dogs are adorable. But, like…” He trailed off, looking at a Bichon playfully nipping at the dog Mika had just released. “Anyways, are those two yours?” He nodded towards where Nala and Argo were happily chasing a tennis ball.

“Yeah, Nala and Argo. Brady likes to cuddle with them while pining for you on my couch.”

“Why the hell would he be pining?” Conor asked, scrunching up his nose and pushing up his glasses. “He’s the one who never showed.”

“Yeah, he told me about that. Apparently his trainer changed times around on him that day, so he was taking a lunch break early? He said he’s been coming to the park as early as he can, but he still seems to be missing you.”

“Really.”

“Really, man. Jimmy says- that’s Jimmy Vesey, Brady’s roommate? He says he’s been moping all week, and that was definitely him on my couch with Nala and Argo and all my cookie dough ice cream.”

“Huh.” Conor looked at Mika contemplatively.

“He described you and I got suspicious, I actually texted Carl- Hags, you know? And he said you were from Boston, but he didn’t know where you were this summer, and also I think he was drunk when he responded. But I was totally prepared to come after you with an NDA, I’ve got it pulled up on my phone and everything-”

“Same, actually. Sid makes us all keep that electronic system app on our phones since that time someone recorded him singing American Pie at a karaoke bar,” Conor said, a hint of a smirk around the corner of his mouth. “The rest of the team was there, too, and pretty drunk, and there are lots of pictures- I think it was right after they went out in the playoffs one year? But he just turns into a tomato when that part gets mentioned, so it’s definitely that.”

“That’s beautiful, I gotta find that,” Mika replied, his eyes following his two little Pomeranians as a Yorkie tried and failed to wrestle with them. “Guess I don’t really need to worry about you, like, taking dick pics of him or something.”

Conor face slid from grinning to stoic as flushed scarlet and stared ahead resolutely, shifting lightly on the cold metal park bench. “No, um. You do not. We’re good. Sid’s given us that talk too, like, eight times.”

Mika snorted. “Man, I’d love to be a fly on the wall for that conversation.”

“No, you really don’t,” said Conor, looking over at Mika, his cheeks still flushed red. “He gives the Pens rookies every year what he likes to call ‘Stickhandling 101’, and it was by _far_ the most comprehensive and awkward sex talk I’ve ever had in my life. He borrowed the skeleton from the trainers’ room and talked about consent and good and bad touches. There was a  _ PowerPoint _ .”

Mika stared at him, mouth open, with a look of pure thrill on his face. “That sounds  _ amazing _ . Now I definitely want to hear this.”

Conor’s eyes widened, his cheeks still slightly flushed. “You really, really  _ don’t. _ Pretty sure Lundqvist has it, though- Sid said something about making sure it went around the league just in case.”

“Oh, man,” Mika breathed, eyes wide and grin stretching from ear to ear. “We play you guys in what, mid-October? I wonder if I can get him to give it to our rookies where I can watch.”

“Oh my god, please don’t,” Conor groaned. “If you do, he’s going to ask me _so many questions_ , and then I’ll end up sitting through a recap of Section Who-Fucking-Knows- yeah, there were different _sections_ , and we needed _two_ _snack breaks_ \- Section ‘So You Want to Fuck a Player’. Subsection ‘On Another Team’, because _that_ happened. And I really, really don’t want that. Please don’t do that to me.”

Mika reached a few feet forward to where Argo had trotted up to him and scooped the little Pomeranian up into his lap, his grin growing impossibly wider. “You realize now there’s no way I’m not going to ask, right?”

“Yeah, I figured,” sighed Conor, rubbing one eye under his glasses with one hand and floating the other hand under Argo’s nose for scenting. “I just want you to know what you’re getting your rookies into.”

Mika watched as Argo began licking Conor’s hand eagerly. “Hey, if he wants to spread the love, he’d probably be willing to do it. And anyways, you and Brady would be like mutually assured destruction, yeah? Sid would probably be down with that.”

“Yeah, he would,” Conor said, cringing slightly. He moved his hand lower under Argo’s chin and began to scratch him gently, Argo tipping his head for better access.

“Yeah, he likes history stuff, doesn’t he? Missile crisis and nuclear stuff.” Mika’s huge grin turned back into a smirk. “Hey, you know who’d appreciate seeing your missile?”

Conor’s blush, which had almost faded away, returned in full force. “Oh my  _ god, _ ” he whispered, eyes scrunching up. “You did  _ not _ just say that.”

“Totally not sorry, I couldn’t help myself,” Mika chuckled. “Brady was right, you’re adorable. Don’t worry, I’m not trying to get in his way or anything.”

“Uh. Thanks?” Conor moved his hand from Argo’s neck to his head and resumed scratching.

“Hey, do you still want his number? He said I should give it to you.”

“Uh. Yeah, definitely. As long as he’s really still interested? He’d better not fucking ghost me.”

Argo whined at the loss of Conor’s hand on his head as Conor reached into his back pocket to pull out his phone and unlock it before handing it to Mika over Argo’s head. He looked between his legs, where his own little dogs had come to rest from running around the dog park. He sighed, patting them each on the head, before reaching into his front pocket and pulling out little dog treats and giving one to his own dogs and then Argo, as Mika copied Brady’s phone number from his own phone to Conor’s.

“There you go!” Mika handed Conor’s phone back and shifting Argo slightly to get his own phone back in his pocket. “Hey, you never told me- which one of your little guys is Brady? Please say it’s the tiny one.”

Conor pocketed his phone, then reached down to pick up the smaller and fluffier of the two dogs. “Yep, this little guy is Brady. His brother is Louie, and Brady’s the older one, if you can believe it. I got him tiny and he just stayed that way.”

“Dude, he is super cute.” Mika glanced up from Brady to Conor. “You’re super cute. Oh, man, you and Brady would be so perfect. This has gotta happen, man, you need to call him or text him or something.”

Argo whined as Mika put him back on the ground and picked up Louie instead. Louie licked Mika’s hand, then rolled onto his back as soon as he landed on Mika’s lap, exposing a soft white belly. Mika grinned and began rubbing Louie’s belly, the little dog purring happily. 

Conor watched them, bending his head down briefly to rub against Brady’s fluffy one. “You know, I’ve kept coming here every day, it’s not like I haven’t been trying. You give Brady my number, and  _ he _ can make the effort to call or text me.”

“Hey, that’s good. Here, put your number into my phone and I’ll give it to Brady. Mika shifted to pull his phone back out, causing Louie to scramble back into a sitting position on his lap. He handed Conor his phone before lifting Louie up to his face so that they could rub noses gently. “Sorry, Lou, didn’t mean to scare you like that!”

Conor held his arms around Brady as he typed in his number. “Whoa, is that the time? I didn’t realize we’d been here this long. I gotta drop the boys off and get back to the gym.”

“You know, man, if you ever want them to have a playdate or something, we should get our boys together. They seem to get along pretty well, and you seem like a cool dude. If my Brady doesn’t steal your dogs or something, you might want to watch out for that.”

Conor grinned at Mika. “That’d be good. You know, if Brady is willing to call me and wants to hang out with my dogs, I’d be down for that. I couldn’t deal with a guy who doesn’t like my dogs.” He considered his next words for a moment. “Or, you know, hockey, but that’s not really an issue here. Dogs and hockey are the best.”

Mika scooped up Louie from his lap, handing him to Conor, then reached down and scratched Argo’s neck. He turned his head to look at the two little tan and white dogs perched in Conor’s lap and smiled.

“Absolutely, man. Dogs and hockey.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The hardest part of writing this is keeping track of where all the dogs are at any given time.
> 
> Thanks to Julia for editing this chapter!
> 
> Feel free to let me know if you have any feedback!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Brady is happy and Jimmy can't take him anywhere

_Buzz buzz_

_Buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz-_

“Dude, pick up your goddamn phone before it buzzes off the coffee table”, Jimmy grumbled from where he lay on the other end of the couch, feet propped up in Brady’s lap. “I’m trying to play Mario Kart, here.”

Brady glared at Jimmy, opening his mouth to retort.

_Buzz buzz_

“Ugh, _fine_ , I’ll get it now.” Brady shoved Jimmy’s feet off his lap and leaned forward to pick up his phone. He curled back up on the couch, pulling his phone in close as he tucked his heels up under his thighs.

 **[MIKA DA MAN]** : hey brady

 **[MIKA DA MAN]** : dude omg

 **[MIKA DA MAN]** : he’s adorable how did you find him

 **[MIKA DA MAN]** : if i werent totally taken i would have stolen him from you

 **[MIKA DA MAN]** : his dogs are amazing were insta buddies now

 **[MIKA DA MAN]** : anyways i totally gave conor your number and he was like whoa dude i came here every day and made an effort so its your damn turn so he gave me his and you gotta text him before he goes back to pitt and cuz then you wont see him until we play his team and yikes

 **[MIKA DA MAN]** : **[CONTACT CARD: Brady’s Boy]**

 **[MIKA DA MAN]** : pucks in your zone dude you gotta lock this guy down u got me? hes cute and sassy and his dogs like my dogs so we gotta be inlaws okay

Brady dropped his phone onto the couch, leapt up, and raised his fists in a celly. “Dude, Mika is the MAN!”

Jimmy craned his neck to look at Brady. “Yeah, dude, you already knew that. What did he do this time?”

Brady grabbed his phone off the couch and started wiggling his shoulders in a happy dance as he hopped around the living room, saving Conor’s contact card with a heart eyes emoji and two dog face emojis. “He got me Conor’s number!”

“Conor? As in Dog Park Conor?” Jimmy dropped his head back down onto the couch and went back to jamming buttons on his controller. “Congrats, dude. Now go bone and get a house with a picket fence and nice big yard for the dogs.”

“Hey, you never know. Gonna start with some coffee, but who knows?” Brady cocked his head to the side and thought for a moment before starting to type.

 **[Me]** : Hey Conor, it’s Brady!

 **[Me]** : I’m so sorry I kept missing you at the dog park! Mika said he explained things to you, but that doesn’t make up for it.

Brady plopped back down on the couch, shoving Jimmy’s feet further out of the way.

Jimmy paused his game, threw the controller on the coffee table, sat up, and shoved his butt right up next to Brady’s on the couch. His face hung over Brady’s phone, reading the just-sent texts.

“‘Brady’s Boy’, huh. You sure hope he’s gonna be.” Jimmy looked up at Brady and grinned. “Gonna actually ask him out at some point, here?”

Brady shoved Jimmy’s face out of the way and went back to typing.

 **[Me]** : Maybe coffee would, though?

 **[Me]** : I mean you should come get coffee with me sometime!

 **[Me]** : I know a place that’s dog-friendly, if you want to bring your pups.

 **[Me]** : Or not, it could just be us? Up to you

 **[Me]** : Do you like coffee? We could get smoothies or something else if you want

Jimmy snorted. “Way to be super awkward, dude. That’s not even a double text, that’s a fuckin’ seven-text. Whatever it’s called.” He glanced at the coffee table for a moment. “Wait, isn’t seven of something called sex, like quad is four or something? So like, sex-text?”

Brady raked a hand through his hair. “Nah, man, it’s sept for seven, I think, and I don’t think that’s how it works, anyways. And I don’t like big blocks of text, you know that.” He paused and winced at the phone. “That’s, like, a lot of texts, though. I’m gonna say sorry for that.”

 **[Me]** : Sorry that came out super awkward, you’re just really cute and I want to see you again

He leaned forward and dropped his phone down on the coffee table before leaning back and falling into the couch cushions with a _whumf_. Jimmy leaned his head onto Brady’s shoulder and pulled Brady’s arm around him for a snuggle.

“Does this mean our days of sharing a bed have to be over?” Jimmy asked Brady, looking up at him with a pout.

“Those were friendship snuggles, they don’t count. But if Conor ever wants to stay over or something, you- fuck, fuck, fuck!” Brady’s eyes widened.

Jimmy sat straight up. “What’s the matter, dude? You worried about the mechanics all of a sudden or something?”

“We gotta go to Bed Bath & Beyond like _now_ , dude! I can’t have Conor come by and see how big of messes we are!” Brady grabbed his phone, opened the Notes app, and started making a list. “Hamper, trash can, what else?”

“Ugh, fine, we’ll go. I’ll go grab my keys.” Jimmy pulled himself to his feet and hopped over Brady’s legs, ambling towards the door. Brady stood up and followed him to the front door. They pulled on their shoes quickly before grabbing their sunglasses and snapbacks from the table in the hall and heading out the door.

“I don’t know how much longer he’s in the city for, anyways. He lives in Pittsburgh, but it sounded like he’s here for a while?” Brady worried his lower lip as he and Jimmy walked down the hall and headed down in the elevator.

As they stepped out of the elevator, an elderly lady with blue-tinged gray hair and a Schnauzer wearing a bow tie collar headed into the elevator. Brady turned his head to watch as the doors closed in front of the lady and dog, Jimmy dragging him towards the building entrance by the elbow.

“Skjei, you can’t spend ten minutes with every single dog we pass or we’re never gonna get there, and it’s just across the street.” Jimmy let go of Brady’s arm to walk next to him. “This is why you gotta shack up with your nice dog park boy and live happily ever after and maybe be able to walk five steps without staring at someone else’s dog.”

_Buzz buzz_

“Hang on, I think he responded!” Brady pulled out his phone and stared at the messages on the screen.

 **[Brady’s Boy** **]** : Your awkward is cute too, but you’re buying me coffee to make up for being a no-show

 **[Brady’s Boy]** : Got a good dog-friendly cafe for meeting at? The boys would love to see you again before we head back to Pittsburgh in September

Jimmy nudged Brady’s shoulder. “What’d he say, dude? You’ve got, like, literal heart eyes right now.”

Brady looked up at Jimmy as they approached the street corner. “He said yeah, man, he wants to meet up!”

“Get it, dude! That’s awesome!” Jimmy side-hugged Brady as they stopped at the corner. “Go get your man!”

“Hell yeah, I will! And- oh, hi there!” Brady crouched down to greet the Golden Retriever that had just nudged his leg with a wet nose. “Do you like scratchies? You look like a good dog who likes scratchies!”

Jimmy grinned at the lab’s owner, a tall jogger in shorts and a sports bra. “He’s always like this, sorry. Best friends with any dog he bumps into.”

“It’s fine, so is Ari. Loves giving me sass during my runs, and then super sweet to anyone willing to pet her.” She looked down, patting her curly ponytail as if to make sure it was still there. “Isn’t that right, Ari? Do you give me sass?”

Right on cue, Ari wagged her tail vigorously, whacking the woman against her knee.

“See? Look at that sass, no respect for her momma.” She held out the hand that wasn’t holding Ari’s leash. “I’m Emma, by the way.”

“Jimmy. And my roommate here is Brady.” Jimmy shook Emma’s hand. “And I think we just missed the light, thanks to these new best buds.”

Emma sighed. “My girlfriend keeps telling me I can’t make every errand or jog a walkie, because I just can’t get anything done with her along.”

“I should take her advice, except for with Brady. Can’t get anything done with him around, either.” Jimmy looked down at Brady. “Hmm.” Jimmy reached down and scratched gently behind Brady’s ear.

“What?” Brady asked, reluctantly looking up from Ari, his hands still buried in Ari’s fluff.

“The light’s just changed again, and you’ve got a text to respond to.” Jimmy swatted playfully at Brady’s head. “And we’ve got a dog park boy to make fall in love with you.”

“And his dogs!” Brady gave Ari one last pat before standing up and dusting his hands off on his shorts. “Can’t forget about the dogs!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay, Irma got in the way and then life got in the way, but Chapter 5 is finally here!
> 
> Jimmy Vesey is Brady's real-life roommate and fellow Ranger, and they are an absolute human mess together. You can check out this video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMcrLM0o2NE) to find out just how much of a mess.
> 
> Thanks to Julia for editing this chapter!
> 
> Feel free to let me know if you have any feedback!

**Author's Note:**

> This happened because Conor Sheary has two insanely cute dogs with an insanely cute Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/flufffbrothers/) and one of them happens to be named Brady. And also there is Brady Skjei, who looks like an actual Disney prince.
> 
> So there was confusion and Sam is amazing and then this happened.
> 
> Title is from Puppy Love by S Club Juniors
> 
> It's also the first thing I've ever posted, so feel free to let me know if you have any writing feedback!
> 
> You can find me on tumblr as ryannuggethopkins!


End file.
